Automated bathing facility



Dea HALLUM UTUMATED BATHING FACILITY Filed Jan. 2l, 1969 INVENTOR.

nited States Patent O AUTOMATED BATHING FACILITY Gyda Halium, Rte. 5,Box 118C, Austin, TeX. 78704 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No.634,629, Apr. 28, 1967. This application Jan. 21, 1969, Ser. No. 813,780

Int. Cl. A47k 3/22; A471 5/38; B08b 3/00 TUS. Cl. 4-145 6 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An automated bathing system or facilityadapted for use in bathing large numbers of patients or persons instanding position by which the patients are suspended by means of aharness from an overhead rail and are moved along a conveyor belt oorpast a wetting station, a soaping station, a rinsing station and nallyinto a drying station where the patient is air dried still in standingposition and is readied for redressing under conditions that minimizethe danger of inrm or mentally incapacitated injuring themselves orothers by struggling during the bathing procedure and that provideimproved sanitation in that all steps of the bathing procedure areaccomplished with the patient in a standing position such that Washcloths and towels are not needed.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No.634,629, filed Apr. 28, 1967, now abandoned.

SUBJECT MATTER OF INVENTION This invention relates to improvements inbathing facilities to be used by a plurality of people and in particularthe invention provides for an automated bathing facility in which aplurality of persons or institutionalized patients may be positioned onconveyor facilities and successively moved through a plurality ofstations Where said patients are automatically bathed, soaped, rinsed,and dried while being supported in a vertical or standing position.

PRIOR ART A variety of problems arise in providing facilities to bathepatients in hospitals, mental institutions, young people in specialeducational institutions and institutions handling mentally retardedcases. Older patients are often terrified about the danger of slippingand falling in bathing or shower facilities while mentally retardedpatients seem to have a strong fear of water and struggle against beingbathed. ln the course of such struggling both the patients and theattendants trying to bathe them are often injured. Thus the normal`method of bathing patients in standard baths and showers have oftenproven to be more of a nuisance than helpful, and institution attendantsare often prone to neglect bathing patients who struggle excessively.

lf bath or shower facilities are provided with slick hard surfaces oftile or porcelain that can be easily cleaned, such facilities are likelyto become slick When wet or covered with soap thus aggravating thedangers andv fears of patients about slipping on such slick surfaces andinjuring themselves. On the other hand if the dangers of slipping areminimized by using Wood or porous structures in institutional bathingfacilities said wet porous surfaces become areas in which germs from avariety of skin diseases and fungus infection may be harbored andtransmitted to other patients with the result that old style bathingfacilities may contribute to spreading skin disease and fungusinfections to the point of epidemic proportions within a hospital orinstitution instead of providing the desired therapeutic effect upon thepatient being bathed.

3,483,572 Patented Dec. 16, 1969 Institutional patients who spend anymaterial amount of time in bed are likely to be susceptible to fungusand skin disease infection in the area of the buttocks, the thighs, andthe hairy portions of the body. In controlling the spread of contagiousskin diseases in institutions it is these very portions of the bodywhich need to be bathed most frequently and most thoroughly but it isvery difiicult for either the patients or the institutional attendantsto reach these portions of the body with soap and Water when thepatients are bathed in a sitting position. The use of Wash cloths andtowels is virtually a necessity in the course of bathing sittingpatients in standard bathing facilities and the accumulation of wet bathcloths and towels on the floor and in storage piles also contributes tothe spread of infectious skin diseases and fungus infections even underthe most careful circumstances. It should be readily apparent thatinstitutional patients need to be bathed in standing positions in openwell ventilated facilities in which soap, water, and liquid medicationsmay be sprayed on or applied to all areas of the human body with minimumor no use of associated bath clothes and equipment that can transmitgerms and infections from one patient to another. Traditional showerfacilities are adequatefor mature and physically competent patients whocan bathe themselves but no satisfactory arrangement is available topermit institutional bathing of patients in a vertical open positionwhen the patients are infirm, mentally disturbed or prone to struggleagainst being bathed.

The prior art indicates that there have been a few proposals formechanical carriers for bathing purposes but the patient has usually hadto sit in chairs or baskets which occupy considerable space, made thebathing process slow or time consuming and interfered with theapplication of cleaning solutions and rinse water to all of the surfacesof the patients body. Nor do the proposed facilities for automatedbathing for institutional patients come to grips with the necessity ofpromptly and effectively drying the patient at the end of the bathingoperation and this is not readily accomplished with the patient in asitting position in or on wet equipment.

OB] ECTS It is therefore a primary object of this invention to providean automated bathing system or facility in which a plurality of patientsmay be bathed in standing position.

Another object of the automated bathing facility described in thisinventionv is to provide a set of suspensive straps and harnesses thatwill secure the patient in a standing position in such manner as toprovide the patient with assured and secured support while leaving hisbuttocks and lower parts of his body available for more effectivewashing while minimizing the danger of the patient injuring himself byfalling or struggling with the attendant.

Since inadequate bathing or bathing with defective and obsoleteequipment is often a factor contributing to the spread of skin diseasesand disorders in institutions it is an object of this invention todeter, if not eliminate, the spread of infectious skin diseases, byreducing patient contact with potentially contaminable surfaces byproviding means whereby disinfectant and medical solutions may be mixedwith liquid soap and sprayed over the entire body of the patient whilein standing position. t

A further object is to provide an automated bathin facility in which anincreased plurality of patients may be placed in patient accommodatingpositions and the entire apparatus moved along a pre-arranged course inwhich the patients are consecutively and automatically treated with soapsolutions, disinfectants and bathed and dried with the use of a minimumnumber of attendants.

An object of this invention is to provide a means of air-drying thepatients while still in a standing position so that all parts of thebody are effectively dried without ICC having to expose the body tocontact with towels or surfaces which might provide a fresh means ofinfection or reinfection.

With the problems of growing institutional population aggrevatingalready over-crowded bathing facilities it is still a further object ofthis invention to provide an automated bathing `facility which willpermit patients to be scheduled and handled at a predictable rate ofspeed, materially increase the number of patients that can be handled ina very short time and reduce to a minimum the number of attendantsrequired to assist in bathing a given number of patients.

It Will also be readily apparent that the automated bathing facilitiesdescribed herein could be effectively built into mobile van or trailerhousing structures to provide mobile bathing facilities that may bemoved from place to place to provide bathing facilities to persons indisaster areas or to cope with mass bathing requirements after an atomicbomb explosion, and it is an object of this invention to provide formobile automated bathing facilities that could provide means for massbathing under such circumstances.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will becomeapparent through consideration of the following description and appendedclaims in conjunction with the attached drawings in which:

DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS IN THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is aperspective view of a partially cut away view of a bathing facilityconstructed in accordance with the teachings of the invention describedherein.

FIGURE 2 is a floor level cross sectional end view of the bathingfacility;

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional end View of the overhead conveyor railshowing how the wheels of the patients support harnesses are attached tothe overhead conveyor rail;

FIGURE 4 is a side view of the structure shown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a cross sectional view of a portion of an optional soapdispensing mechanism that may be employed in one of the Soapingstations;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective View of part of the patient support harness;and

FIGURE 7 is a sectional View of a part of the water spraying station.

In describing one selected form or preferred embodiment of thisinvention as shown in the drawings and described in this specification,specific terms and components are used for clarity. However, it is notintended to limit the claimed invention to the specific form, componentsor construction shown and it is to be understood that the specific termsused in this illustration of the invention are intended to include alltechnical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish asimilar purpose.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The automated bathing system or facilitydescribed herein may be housed in a mobile van or trailer to providemobility and availability at a plurality of locations in times of crisesor it may be housed within an appropriate enclosure or housing structure20 inside a regular building or institution. Two or more parallelrollers 10 and 12 are placed in the oor of said facility and anelongated endless conveyor belt 14 is mounted upon said rollers 10 and12 in a horizontal position adapted to serve as a moving floor for saidbathing facility. Appropriate motors or motive power means 16 areprovided to drive at least one of said rollers to cause endless beltfloor 14 to move longitudinally through the length of the housingstructure 20. An overhead conveyor rail 28a is mounted longitudinallythrough the upper portion Of Said housing structure 20 to provide ameans for supporting patients while they are moved through the bathingfacility. The patients 484S to he bathed are undressed and are placed inpatient support harnesses 40 which are rollably connected to saidoverhead conveyor rail 28a to support each patient in a vertical orstanding position and the patients feet are secured into foot straps50-50 mounted at spaced apart positions on the endless conveyor belt 14which serves as a oor of the bathing facility. As the conveyor beltfloor 14 moves through the bathing facilities each person carried on theconveyor belt is successively moved through a first wetting station 52where his body is sprayed with water, through a second treatment station68 where he is sprayed with liquid soap or detergent or with appropriateliquid medication, through a third rinse station 52a where he is sprayedwith water to rinse off the soap or detergent, and through a fourthstation where the patient is air dried by pressurized streams of forcedwarm air. By placing a plurality of patients at spaced apart positionsupon said conveyor belt and moving them through said bathing facilitiesmost of the routine bathing steps can be carried out automatically sothat large numbers of individual patients can be successively bathed ina short time.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Referringto the specific embodiment of the invention selected for illustration inthe accompanying drawings, the improved automated bathing facilitydescribed herein will need to be incorporated in an overall .housingstructure 20 in FIGURE l or enclosure. symbolically represented byhousing walls 20 in FIGURE 2. As previously explained said automatedbathing facility could very well be built into a mobile van or trailerwhich in times of emergency,

-such as the period after the explosion of an atomic bomb,

could 'be moved or towed from place to place to provide bathingfacilities at a plurality of locations. In case the device were to beincorporated into a van, trailer, or mobile facility walls 20 of thehousing enclosure could be the walls of said trailer or mobile unit.Otherwise housing walls 20 may represent the walls of a hospital or suchother institutional building as such facility may be built into.

As indicated in FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings herein two or moreparallel rollers 10 and 12 are mounted in the floor of the area to beemployed for said bathing facility and an elongated endless conveyorbelt 14 is mounted upon said rollers 10 and 12 in such a horizontalposition as to be adapted to serve as a moving floor for said bathingfacility. vConveyor belt floor 14 should be provided with a non-skid butotherwise water repellant Surface that can be easily rinsed clean andthat will present few or no porous surfaces in which germs orcontamination material may lodge or cling. Referring again to FIGURE lappropriate motors or motive power means 16 are provided to drive atleast one of said rollers to cause endless belt floor 14 to movelongitudinally through the length of housing structure 20. Rotary motionis transferred from said motive power means 16 by shaft 18 which isconnected to one or more of the rollers 10 or 12 that move conveyor beltfloor 14 and electric motor or motive power means 16 may be stopped andstarted as needed by means of standard electric wiring and switchmechanisms operated by an attendant at master control console 82 oralternatively switch control circuits could be provided at a convenientlocation where the switch could be operated by the same attendant whoassists the porarily stored as each patient is drie-d and dressed andrein a bathing position on conveyor belt oor 14.

Since elderly patients, infirm patients, and mentally disturbed patientsall share a terror of slipping and injuring themselves in any kind ofstand up bathing facility and it is an object of this invention toprovide a means of automated bathing of institutional patients in astanding position, it is therefore necessary to provide a means ofSuspensively supporting the patient in standing position during thebathing procedure. This is accomplished by means of a patient supportharness system 40 which extends upward to rollably connect with anoverhead conveyor rail 28a which is mounted longitudinally through theupper portion of said housing structure as shown in FIGURE 1. Rail 28amay be fabricated in the form of a continuous or endless loop so thatharnesses may be returned to their beginning point or overhead rail 28amay have beginning and terminal ends and the system be provided with agenerous plurality of attachable-detacha'ble patient support harnesseswhich may be mounted on overhead rail 28a as each patient is introducedinto the bathing facility and may be removed from the rail andtemporarily stored as each patient is dried and dressed and re'- leasedfrom the bathing facility.

As indicated in FIGURE l the Walls of bathing facility housing structure20 will be provided with customary entrance doors 24 and exit doors 26and of course the frame work of housing structure 20 also supportsoverhead conveyor rail 28a. In the floor of housing structure 20 alongopposite sides of conveyor belt floor 14 should be provided horizontalelongated troughs 22.-22 which extend to a point just below the. uppersurface of conveyor belt oor 14 such that they collect the water flowingofrr of conveyor belt floor 14 and carry said waste water away throughconnections to standard sewage or disposal facilities.

Patient support harness 40 may be a simple strap or appropriate loopwhich fastens around the upper part of the patients chest at a pointunder the patients arms to provide support as shown on patient 48 in thedrying station in FIGURE 1. Said patient support body harness means 40is connected by means of strap or cable 36 to a pair of conveyor wheelsor pulleys 30-30 which may be attachably and detachably mounted uponoverhead conveyor rail 28a in such manner that conveyor wheels 30- 30engage the upper and lower horizontal edges of overhead rail 28a. Wheels30-30 are joined together by vertical connector 32 to engage overheadrail 28a as shown in FIGURE 3. By means of said patient support harnessthe patient may be supported in vertical position and may be moved alongand through the bathing facility described herein as rollers or wheels30-30 roll long overhead rail 28a. Patent support harness 40 includingvertical support cable 36 may be. strapped around the patients chest orbody prior to entering the automated ybathing facility and then may beattachably secured to a horizontal extension 34 on connector 32 toprovide vertical suspensive support to the patient after he has enteredthe bathing facility by connecting him to roller mechanism 30-30. Thedetails of the means by which patient support harness system 40 may beattached and disconnected from rollers 30-30 are illustrated in FIGURES3 and 4 of the drawings herein. A variety of means of connecting anddisconnecting patient support harness means 40 from rollers 30-30 orsupport cable 36 will be readily apparent including the employment of aloop fastener 38 at the. point where vertical support cable 36 attachesto the horizontal upper circular flexible frame or strap 40 of saidpatient support harness means.

If there is any indication that the patient is likely to struggle or beviolent during the washing procedure the institution attendants mayselect and use a patient support harness system 40 like the one shown onthe first patient in front of entrance door 24 in FIGURE l of thedrawings herein to provide additional restraining means to prevent thepatient from struggling during the bathing process. Said extendedpatient support harness or restraining means include additional strap 42which extends down the patients back from body support loop 40 to alower circular exible frame 44 which straps around the lower part of thepatients hips. Additional restraining means may be provided by securingstraps 46-46 which connect to eyelets on loop fastener 38 and have wristengaging loops 39-39 which may be used to restrain the arms and hands ofthe patient as shown in FIGURE 6, and as shown on the rst patient inFIGURE l. Thus the patient may be both supported and restrained duringhis progress through the bathing facility.V

At appropriate spaced apart intervals along the surface of conveyor4belt floor 14 are mounted foot engaging straps 50-50 or hooks to whichsuch foot engaging straps 50-50 may be attached as needed. As conveyorbelt Hoor 14 moves through the length of said bathing facility patientsstationed at intervals and standing upon said conveyor belt floor 14will be moved or carried along the belt from the entrance to the exitdoors while his body is suspensively supported in vertical position .bya body harness means that is adapted to be supported by and rolled alongon overhead conveyor rail 28a as previously described.

Disposed within automated bathing facility housing structure 20 atsuccessive positions along the route of conveyor belt 14 as shown inFIGURE l of the drawings are a plurality of Washing stations adapted tosuccessfully wet, apply liquid soap or liquid medication, rinse, and airdry the body of a standing patient being moved past said stations. Atthe rst washing station shown at the left of FIGURE 1 water spray fromvertical pipe 52 is sprayed upon the body surface of each patient movingthrough said wetting station to wet the surface of the patients body.The water is ejected or sprayed onto the individual patient throughvertically spaced apart perforations 54-54 in vertical pipe 52. Thevertically spaced apart perforations 54-54 in vertical spray pipe 52 areillustrated in the sectional drawing shown in FIGURE 7 of the drawingsherein. Water for this wetting operation is supplied to pipe 52 from anexternal public utility or supply source through supply pipes 56-56including appropriate Water heating apparatus and temperature mixingunit 58 to set proper temperature. When Water from this wettingoperation collects on conveyor belt oor 14 it flows into troughs 22-22which extend along each side of conveyor belt floor 14 to be conductedaway for disposal.

The second washing station 68 shown in FIGURE l spray applies liquidsoap, liquid detergent or liquid medication to the surface of thepatients body by means of vertical spray pipe 68 the bottom end of whichconnects to liquid soap tank 60 to a source of other liquid treatmentmaterial. An appropriate electrically controlled motor 64 operates acompressor 66 to force the liquid soap or other liquid treatmentmaterial upward in bubble form through vertical spray pipe 68 for sprayapplication to the body of the patient being moved past this Soaping ortreatment station. Since the accidental spraying of liquid soap ormedication into the eyes of a patient is likely to cause unnecessarydiscomfort and may cause injury in addition to frantic reaction from thepatient, it is important that the spray from this station be applied tothe patient only from the neck down. Since patients will vary in height,additional means for controlling the treatment spray lbeing applied atthis station will be needed. A variety of manual and automated controlsfor limiting and directing the application of treatment spray at thisstation may be devised. The manual system used for illustration inFIGURE 1 and FIGURE 5 of the drawings herein provide a normally closedclosure mechanism 72 blocking each of the spaced apart port holes 74-74in a vertical pipe 68 which prevents the soap or medication fromescaping through said vertically spaced apart port holes 74-74 untilmanually operated soap control button is depressed by an attendantpresent at Soaping or treatment station 68. The attendant will, ofcourse, open only those port holes which are far enough down on soapspray pipe 68 as to avoid spraying soap into the eyes of the patient.More elaborate arrangements may provide for control of the dispensing ofsoap or medication through port holes 74-74 from a centralized controlpanel in control console 82. The temptation to provide fancy automatedcontrols is almost irresistible but the inventor feels that patientswill have greater confidence or alternatively less fear of sprayapplication of soap,

detergent or medication to their bodies if there is a live attendantstanding at this station. It should also be readily apparent that suchan automated bathing facility could well employ a plurality of soap andmedication applying stations as appropriate or necessary for thetreatment of particular diseases or to cope with particularcircumstances.

The final washing station shown in FIGURE 1 of the drawings herein is awater rinse station consisting of one or more vertical pipes 52a withspaced apart spray perforations like the structure described above forthe first wetting station to spray rince water on the individualpatients as they are moved through said rinse station. At the nextstation shown in FIGURE 1 drying devices 76-76 which may be forced airblowers, fans, electrical heating elements or other indirect heatingdevices are positioned to dry the patients body without having to bringtowels or cloths in contact with the patient. For symbolic simplicityFIGURE 1 of the drawings herein show infra red lamps being employed asdrying devices 76-76 but the inventor has a definite preference for theapplication of streams of warm pressurized air to the body of thepatient as a preferred means of providing for quick indirect drying ofthe patient. The actual choice of specific indirect drying agents 76-76will depend to some extend upon the circumstances and experience of theinstitution in the particular area where the facility is to be used.

At the last station in this automated ybathing facility attendants 78are employed to assist the patients in redressing, to assist inreleasing the patients from the support harness system and aid thepatients in returning to their beds or rooms via exit doors 26.

OPERATION In'operation patients 48 are brought through entrance door 24into the automated bathing facility. The patients 48 to be bathed areundressed by attendants who assist each patient into a patient supportharness 40 which is strapped around the patients chest as previouslydescribed. The patient and patient support harness mechanism 40 are thenconnected by means of vertical support strap 36 to trolley-rollermechanism 30-30 which is adapted to engage and roll along overhead rail28a thereby providing suspensive support to maintain each patient in avertical or standing position as the patient moves through the automatedbathting facility. The patient either stands upon moving conveyor beltfloor 14 or the patients are connected at spaced apart intervals tomoving conveyor belt fioor 14 by means of foot straps S--50. Thus asconveyor belt floor 14 moves from left to right through the length ofthe bathing facility on rollers and 12 as shown in FIGURE 1 of thedrawings herein the patient is moved through the successive washingstations provided in this automated bathing facility.

The patient is first moved to a first washing or wetting station 52Where he is sprayed with water to wet the entire surface of his body. Asendless conveyor belt floor 14 continues to move, the patient is carriedto a second washing station or rst soaping or treatment station 68 wherethe patient may be sprayed with liquid soap, a liquid detergent or acombination of liquid cleaning agents together with any other liquidmedication which may be appropriate. There may, of course, be aplurality of such Soaping or medication treatment stations as theindividual situation may require.

Moving conveyor belt floor 14 continues to move the patient along untilhe is brought into a rinsing station where the patient is rinsed downwith a water spray as he is moved through said station. As conveyor beltoor I4 continues to move the patient from the rinsing station into anopen space designated as a drying station, rays from an indirect dryingmechanism 76-76 such as electric heating elements or infrared lamps orstreams of pressurized warm air are directed on and over the body of thepatient to dry him indirectly while he is still in standing position.The still standing patient may then be dressed by attendant 78 andassisted back to his room or bed in other parts of the institutionalfacility. By placing a plurality of patients at spaced apart positionsupon said conveyor belt fioor 14 and moving them through said bathingfacilities most of the routine steps involved in patient bathing can becarried out automatically so that large numbers of individual patientscan be successively bathed, efficiently and within a very short time.

In the foregoing description of the structure and operation of theinvention set forth herein a number of advantages have been claimed forthe proposed apparatus and others will be readily apparent to personsskilled in the art.

ADVANTAGES In summary, one of the principal advantages of the inventionwould appear to be the ability of the facility described herein toprovide for automated bathing of a comparatively large plurality ofinstitutional patients within a comparatively short time by a minimumnumber of institutional attendants with all of the patients being bathedin standing position.

Another advantage of this invention is that it provides a practicalmeans of providing sanitary stand-up bathing facilities for aged, infirmor mentally disturbed patients who were previously terrified by andstruggled against being bathed.

Another advantage of this invention is that it has provided a means ofenabling the patient to enjoy the advantages of stand-up type showerbathing without the danger and the terror of slipping and falling byproviding a moving support system of suspensive straps and body supportharnesses supported from above the patient to prevent the patient fromslipping and injuring himself during the washing procedure.

A further advantage of this invention is that it is much easier tomaintain in sanitary condition than conventional facilities for bathinginfirm or institutional patients and that the facility and systemdescribed herein allows almost complete elimination of wet wash clothsand towels and materials that can transfer germs and skin diseases fromone patient to another.

An advantage of this automated system for bathing of institutionalpatients is that it permits the bathing of mentally distrurbed patientswith minimum chance of conflict or violence between the patient and theattendants attempting to bathe the mentally disturbed patient.

Aged or infirm bed patients are the patients most likely to be sufferingfrom infection and bed sores in the abdominal area and in the area ofthe buttocks and thighs which areas cannot be conveniently or easilyreached in conventional sit down bathing procedures and facilities, andthese are the very patients who cannot stand alone in conventionalshower bathing facilities. An advantage of this invention is that itprovides for easy spray bathing of the abdomen, buttocks and thighs ofsuch aged and infirm patients without subjecting them to the danger ofpanic or possible injury.

Still a further advantage of the invention lies in the fact that aminimum staff of attendants can bathe a large plurality of patients at acontrollable and therefore predictable rate of speed so thatinstitutional bathing of patients in large numbers can be accomplishedin accordance with a pre-planned schedule.

The automated bathing facility described herein will also permit adrastic increase in the number of institutional patients who can bebathed for a given investment in institutional bathing facilities andsuch improvements in efficiency and cost control procedures are likelyto become even more important in the future as the population in mentaland public supported institutions grow.

Still a further advantage of the invention described herein is that theproposed bathing facility is one that could be constructed in a mobilevan or trailer facility which would permit health authorities in timesof catastrophes and crises to bring mass bathing facilities to bombedout or displaced refugees who might otherwise be exposed to the dangersof poor or no sanitation facilities.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. An automated bathing system or facility in which a plurality ofpatietnts may be bathed in standing position, said bathing facilitycomprising:

(A) a housing structure appropriately enclosing the apparatus describedherein;

(B) at least two parallel rollers located at the oor level of saidhousing structure;

(C) an elongated endless conveyor belt mounted upon said rollers in ahorizontal position adapted to serve as a moving oor for said housingstructure;

(D) motive power means to drive at least'one of said rollers to causethe endless belt oor to move longitudinally through the housingstructure;

(E) an overhead conveyor rail mounted longitudinally in the upperportion of said housing structure;

(F) a plurality of patient support harnesses provided with ( l) means ofbeing supported by and rolled along said overhead conveyor rail,

(2) body harness means by which the patietnt is supported in verticalposition, such that successive vertically positioned patients may bemoved at spaced apart intervals through the bathing facility;

(G) foot straps mounted at spaced apart positions on said endlessconveyor belt to engage and secure the feet of patients being washed;

(H) a Iirst wetting station provided with means of spraying water uponthe patient as each patient is moved past said wetting station;

(I) at least one treatment station provided with means for sprayingliquid soap, detergent or medication upon the patient as each patient ismoved past each of said spaced apart treatment stations;

(l) at least one rinsing station at a spaced apart position from thetreatment station provided with means for spraying rinse water on thepatient as each patient is moved past said rinsing station;

(K) a drying station provided with means for drying the patient as eachpatient is moved past said drying station;

(L) appropriate plumbing and means for supplying hot and cold water; and

(M) drain facilities for removing waste and excess liquids.

2. The automated bathing facility described in claim 1 with the patientsupport harnesses being providetd with additional restraining means toprevent the patient from struggling during the bathing process.

3. The automated bathing facility described in claim 1 with the dryingstation provided with means for directing streams of pressurized warmair onto the patient to dry the patient in standing position.

4. The automated bathing facility described in claim 1 with additionalstations for undressing the patients 'before bathing and redressing thepatients after the bath.

5. The automated bathing facility described in claim 1 with remotecontrol facilities providing means for an operator at a remote controlpanel to control the application and rinsing solutions to the patientfrom a central control point.

6. The automated bathing facility described in claim 1 built into amobile housing to permit said facility to =be driven or towed from placeto place for use in a plurality of locations.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 688,569 12/1901 Youree.

2,698,627 l/l955 Kearney et al. 134-72 X 3,185,108 5/1965 Muller 104-25FOREIGN PATENTS 395,982 5/1924 Germany. 368,435 5/ 1963 Switzerland.

ROBERT W. MICHELL, Primary Examinetr U.S. Cl. XR. l5-302; 134--72

